May 2, 2006 - It seems like
just yesterday that the Sacramento Monarchs were celebrating their first championship
before the loudest crowd you image at ARCO Arena, but after a busy offseason,
basketball is back and the 2006 WNBA preseason is now officially underway.

After
a grueling week of training camp, two-a-day practices and sessions with the local
media, the preseason is the last chance for WNBA rookies and training camp invitees
to make a roster and for the veterans to fine-tune their skills and get back into
game shape. One of the most anticipated aspects of this preseason will be the
debut of the WNBA's new rules set to be implemented this season. They include
a four-quarter format, a 24-second shot clock and adjusting jump balls to begin
second, third and fourth quarters. The format of WNBA games will be changed to
four 10-minute quarters instead of the previous two 20-minute halves.

Yolanda
Griffith and the Sacramento Monarchs will face off against the Connecticut Sun.
Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images

In addition,
the 24-second shot clock replaces the previous 30-second clock. It will be reset
to 14 seconds when a defensive foul or other defensive violation occurs with less
than 14 seconds remaining on the shot clock. It will be left unchanged when a
defensive violation occurs with 14 seconds or more remaining on the shot clock.

Many of the players who have yet to return from their offseason leagues
begin arriving this week, and while they will have missed training camp, they
are already in top playing shape having been at it all winter. Missing at the
start of training camp are Seattle's Sue Bird, Mercury players Diana Taurasi and
Kamila Vodichkova and Sparks center Lisa Leslie. They will be back before the
end of the preseason and in time for Opening Day.

Several teams will play
one another in closed scrimmages, but the WNBA preseason tips off on Wednesday,
May 3 as Dawn Staley and the Houston Comets host Staley's former team, the Charlotte
Sting, at 8:30 p.m. CT at the Toyota Center. It will be the first time Staley
has ever played against the Sting.

The defending champion Sacramento Monarchs
kick off their preseason at home with Becky Hammon and the new-look New York Liberty
on Thursday, May 4. The Monarchs will return the favor and visit the Big Apple
on Saturday, May 13 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, May 7 at 4 p.m. ET.
The Lynx will debut its top overall pick, Seimone Augustus, against the Seattle
Storm on the same day, Saturday, May 13, at the University of Minnesota’s Sports
Pavilion in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 13. Speaking of debuts, the WNBA's newest
franchise, the Chicago Sky, will play their first game ever at the UIC Pavilion
against Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, May 9 at 8 p.m. local
time.

Also highlighting the preseason schedule is a rematch of last years
championship finalists, as Yolanda Griffith and the Sacramento Monarchs take on
Nykesha Sales and the Connecticut Sun on the University of New Mexico campus on
Tuesday, May 9 in Albuquerque. In other key games All-Star guard Diana Taurasi
and the Phoenix Mercury take on the Shock at Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y. on Thursday,
May 11; newly acquired Nikki Teasley and the Washington Mystics will take on the
San Antonio Silver Stars and recently acquired nine-year veteran Vickie Johnson
at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. on Saturday, May 6.

The WNBA’s 10th
anniversary season tips off on Saturday, May 20 and will include ABC’s national
telecast from Sacramento where the Monarchs will commemorate their 2005 WNBA title
by raising their championship banner. The Monarchs will then square off against
the Phoenix Mercury at ARCO Arena beginning at
4 p.m. EDT. Opening day also includes the inaugural game of the league’s 14th
franchise, the Chicago Sky, as it visits the Charlotte Sting.